March 17, 2011

As any regular Burbed reader knows, the East Bay is no way no how never was, never is and never will be part of the Real Bay Area (RBA). But there’s plenty to be found in the East Bay! Plenty of great houses for Burbed treatment, that is.

So, speaking of the East Bay, please welcome A Lewis, in his very first appearance as a Burbed Guest Blogger! Please give him a warm RBA welcome!

First, the listing copy is so Excited, EXCITED! VIEWS! POOL! That is one crappy pool in lieu of a small back yard Great hazard for families with small children.

That’s strange, no interior pics?

And 3 of the worst view pics you could imagine. Why would you take your view pics on a hazy grey day and then reduce them to an unviewable resolution? Do they teach that in realtor-school?

But the listing history is what makes this worth a second look – first off, there HAS got be a law made so you can’t call a listing ‘new’ just because you took it off Redfin for five seconds. Second, look at the almost unbroken monthly activity since 2008. This house needs a rest – it’s getting more action than a $5 hooker.

But it’s got $444k of instant equity! Multiply by 2 and you’ve got three 8’s! it’s only been foreclosed on once, and then it sold for $400k just one week ago. Now it’s ready for a new owner! How was that 7 days of owner-occupied bliss, anyways?

What the heck is happening on the inside of this place – I know they say Contractor’s special, but what have they been doing with it all these years? This one looks ripe for a fraud investigation. But at a rock-bottom $138/sqft, how can you pass it up? And it has a POOL!

First, I think this house is really ugly. Second, I’ve watched it come on and off the market for years and it fascinates me. Third, I really love that listing history – the stories this house could tell! But it’s the realtor pics that make it a Burbed must.

Here’s a realtor that needs to get rid of their fancy camera a get a point and click model. How can you take so many out of focus pictures? Maybe the realtor was hoping enough “Moonlighting” of this house would make it attractive.

We are in a solidly rebounding economy right now. The best days for real estate are ahead of us. The recent catastrophe in Japan actually provides an edge to the U.S. from an economic perspective, as our nearest competitor is distracted from normal operations. Would you buy a radioactive hybrid car from Japan right now?

I don’t know what San Mateo is like, so I can’t answer for sure, but SFH are cheaper in most parts of El Cerrito vs. most parts of Berkeley. Both of those towns have $3M+ estates, and $150k crack houses, depending on which neighborhood… This house is up in the hills. 900+ API elementary school. I’d say El Cerrito is kind of a slightly above average town for the Bay Area. Good BART access, but a lot of I-80 between you and any job centers. Decent street parking and reasonably sized lots.

If there’s another open house, I’ll try to look in. Missed the one on the 13th, sorry.

#13 – there are lots of foreclosures in Richmond, to be sure. But the low-end of the market had most of the action in like 07-08. It’s been heavily purged and prices reset to really really low values there. You can probably get a good value in Richmond, if you wanted to live there for some reason.

Prices up in the El Cerrito hills are falling slowly – the smart money is waiting, or pouncing on the rare low priced nice home.

#12 – nope, you’re wrong. it’s a choppy, uneven, jobless recovery. With many many risks to the downside.

#14 – thanks for the request to be kind! I think El Cerrito is a nice place to live, if you like being on this side of the Bay (which I do). We also have low transfer taxes!

As if Mr. Boxster would have ever purchased a Japanese car. And Heaven forbid supporting American auto workers. I may be a fool, but the last new car I purchased was built in Fremont (NUMMI). Who’s supporting the Bay Area here?

This part of the BA doesn’t get much sun. In the morning there’s either overcast or fog. By the time sunlight is out, it’s only a few hours until sunset. As already pointed out, there’s plenty of clutter and unclean neighborhoods. Richmond of course is the hood.

#20 Compared to Palo Alto, EC gets less sun, yes. But we are not right in the fog path, we are on the edge of it. We got a satisfying amount of sun last year – and I get both morning and evening light a lot of days. Some are foggy, but not like SF in summer and not as much as Berkeley.

If war starts, Gadhafi and his rich cronies will flee from Libya, come to RBA and start buying up houses. Good for RBA. I heard Gadhafi has a beautiful blond nurse-cum-mistress and she has a dog. Good for dog walk.

“According to the latest run of the GFS model, the air arriving in San Franciso tomorrow will have originated near the surface in northern Japan last Saturday, when radioactive emissions from the Fukushima nuclear plant began. The radioactive particles arriving in California will be in trace quantities, and will have no harmful effects on human health.”

#33. I doubt that. Gadhafi will be welcome here. Most likely USA will open gates for moustached boneheads with their huge families and beaten to crap wives wearing burqas. We need to more cab drivers. Let them in!

>>RE, if you saw someone getting mugged, or a little kid being beaten by his parent would you just walk away because “it’s none of your business?”

Who is being mugged in international politics depends on your lens. During the US Civil War, who was mugging who? Was the North the thug or the South? Should Russia impose a no-fly zone over the US because there is a Civil War?

You don’t see a difference? To paraphrase you from long ago, “you are not qualified to address me.”

Both sides were armed in the American Civil War, with similar armaments. When one side has bombers (planes) and automatic weapons, and the other has sticks, rocks and maybe handguns, the story is a bit different.

Heh. More like greedy bums. The only difference between many of these people behind WTF prices and the bums on the streets of san Francisco is that the bums have the decency to have reasonable expectations when they ask for something for nothing.

[…] Cast your mind waaaaaaay back to the dim past of March, 2011 (just think how much the Republican primary field has changed since then! And who would have bet the 49ers would have clinched their division?) and this thread: […]

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The posts on this weblog are provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confer no rights. The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and only represent the view of Burbed.com's editor. Comments are the views of commenters, not Burbed. If companies, properties, etc are mentioned on this blog, you should assume that I have a financial stake in them. Trust no one.